Martin Hessler
Oberst Martin Hessler was a Panzer division commander during World War II. He was chosen by Generaloberst Kohler to lead the armored spearhead that started the famous Battle of the Bulge using a group of newly built King Tigers. Hessler was an extremely complicated man. He could be at once supremely ruthless but also very fair-minded, but in a cruel manner. When a French boy attempted to shoot him, he had the boy arrested. The boy's father begged for his son's life and so Hessler had him killed instead, letting the child go. At the same time, he also gave help to some local nuns. Earlier, in Kohler's headquarters, he, politely but coldly, turned away a prostitute who'd been sent to his quarters, as he had no interest in sex, only in war. He also initially objected to Kohler giving him tank crews consisting of mostly teenagers because he considered them mere children, but became moved and accepted them as his men when they began proudly singing the Panzer anthem. He later confided in his aide, Conrad, that he hoped the war would go on for years because he believed it was what he - and Germany as a whole - was best at. When Conrad objected to what he saw as Hessler's warmongering, Hessler initially tried to instill a sense of national pride in him, but when Conrad refused to budge Hessler dismissed him as his aide and dismissed him to serve in the infantry supporting the spearhead. Hessler could therefore be seen to be a man with extremely complicated and deep-rooted moral values that perhaps sense to no one but himself. Towards the end of the battle, it became worryingly clear to Hessler that although the Germans possessed greater numbers and firepower than the Americans they were fighting, the fuel shortage plaguing them would spell their undoing. If the Tigers were to win the day, it was obvious they'd need fuel. As the crisis loomed, Hessler learned of an American fuel depot and took his personal Tiger tank to go and capture it. In the meantime, however, the wounded American Army Intelligence officer Kiley had been taken to the depot after his plane crashed. Schumacher and some of his men, posing as American soldiers, arrived at the depot in advance of Hessler and killed all of the guards, but overlooked Kiley who was resting in a tent. American tank sergeant Guffy and his men arrived in their own damaged tank and, having encountered Schumacher previously, figured out he was an impostor and got the drop on him and his men, killing them. Thus, the depot was still in American hands when Hessler arrived. As the tank advanced up the dirt road, Kiley, recovering, directed Guffy and his men to puncture the fuel drums. The fuel flowed down the road, turning the dirt into slushy mud, which the King Tiger's treads became mired in. The fuel was then set alight. Hessler was still determined to try and reach his goal, but his crew abandoned him in a panic. Climbing into the driver's seat he thundered towards his destination, but the Americans rolled a final, full fuel drum down the road. The drum lodged underneath the Tiger and blew it up, killing Hessler. Awards *Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves *Iron Cross 1st Class *Iron Cross 2nd Class *German Cross (Gold) *Heer Honor Roll Clasp *Panzer Assault Badge (75) Gallery hessler.jpg Bulge_201.jpg hessler1.jpg hessler_and_model.jpg hessler3.jpg Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Category:Iron Cross 1st Class Winners Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin Hessler, Martin